The invention relates to devices through which a liquid can be drawn from a container.
Using a straw to consume beverages such as fruit juices, soft drinks and the like is known. Already known drinking straws are open ended cylinders or tubes. Such already known straws are typically made from plastic or wax impregnated paper. However, these straws require the user to first open the container and only then insert the straw. After consuming the beverage, the user must remove and then discard the straw.
According to the present invention, the device can be used for drinking soft beverages, usually served in containers, preferably bottles, such as milk, fruit juices and other drinkable liquids, carbonated or not, creamy or oily. The device includes at least one open outer channel and a flotation device connected thereto at a predetermined position. While this straw can be used by itself I prefer to have the device can be used in combination with a container. In such applications, the device can be sealed along with a liquid inside an openable container. Upon opening the container, the device spontaneously emerges from the sealed bottle and will extend upwardly from the dispensing aperture of the open container a distance sufficient to permit normal usage.
The device according to the present invention is suitable for use in removing a wide variety of consumable liquids as well as other liquids perhaps even including chemicals from various types of containers if the appropriate precautions are taken to prevent spillage or splashing. In such cases the device is made from appropriate chemically inert material such as a plastic or thermoplastic as well as other materials that can be easily extruded.
The straw should be made from physiologically harmless and innocuous material, such as polyethylene, that is inert to acidic liquids and carbonic acid.
Other objects, features, and characteristics of the present invention as well as the methods and operation and functions of the related elements of the structure, and to the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures.